Kingwood Park girls soccer is closing in on a third consecutive district title.

The Panthers are 11-0 in District 21-5A going into Friday's showdown with Porter.

"Each game's brought its own challenges as far as adjusting to injuries and people in different positions," Panthers coach Jess White said. "Players have had the opportunity to step up, in some games that weren't as intense, and been allowed to grow and develop, so they're ready for the faster-paced games."

Kingwood Park beat Porter 3-2 in their first meeting. The Spartans led at halftime and 2-1 in the second half before the Panthers finished with a flurry.

"We had a gameplan that we didn't stick to in the beginning, but we got back on it in the second half," White said.

The Spartans' goals are the only ones allowed in district by Kingwood Park's rebuilt defense - with three new starters - which includes converted forwards Bryn Schleyer at center back and MacKenzie Lee in the goal.

Without Schleyer and Lee up top, Kingwood Park still has outscored its district foes 64-2.Senior forward Kobi McNutt leads the way with 32 goals and 12 assists.

"We're more dynamic offensively than we've been in the past," White said. "We've got more scoring threats, and we can score in a few different ways, with different players, than we were able to in the past.

"We're pleasantly surprised," coach Mason Whitfield said. "We had expectations at the beginning of the season. We had our goals that we had set again ... (but) I think that the boys have even gone beyond what they thought was going to be a possibility."

The Cougars suffered their first District 19-6A loss Tuesday, falling 2-1 to Strake Jesuit, sending them to 8-1-4.

They finished 12-0-2 in district last year, then went all the way to the Class 6A final, eventually falling 2-0 to Brownsville Rivera.

Fox earns top honors

Cypress Lakes senior point guard De'Aaron Fox was named the District 17-6A MVP this week.

The Kentucky signee led the Spartans to a district championship and their first appearance in the regional finals.

They fell 83-77 to Sam Houston in the Region III-6A final.

"We're going to miss him a lot, but to be honest, I'm happy for him," coach Emmanuel Olatubosun said. "I'm glad that he gets to move on, and I'm just glad that he had a successful career here. There was a lot of pressure to stay right around here and play, and then losing two guys he was playing with last season, and saying, OK, what (is he) going to do ... and he brought everybody along for a ride.